Summary (Just because I wanted to put it here)

The afterlife for Tony and Natasha left them stuck in the soul stone after they sacrificed their lives. But when they have an opportunity to escape offered by everyone's favorite cameo, they take it in a race against the clock with their very souls on the line in a desperate bid to prove their need to return to life. Rated T for (cue Cap) "Language!"

Tony knew that he was dead. After all, no perfectly normal human (albeit a self-described genius billionaire playboy philanthropist) could wield the infinity stones and expect to live.

At least Morgan isn't here to watch me die, he reasoned. Seeing it in person is so much worse. I hope to God she doesn't find that out the hard way, like me.

He felt his grip on reality itself slipping, washing away with a strange sense of peace taking its place in his final moments.

Here it is. The big moment. Here lies Tony Stark, husband, father, and Avenger. In that order, or so help me, I will haunt the shit out of everybody. Going, going…

And then he was gone. Or so he thought.

What the hell?

Tony was floating up through a layer of water. Normally, that would have been enough to bring on a panic attack, but the strange euphoria of dying at last still hadn't faded. He followed the light filtering through the surface above, taking his time until a hand plunged through and the savior of the universe was unceremoniously yanked from beneath the surface before being dumped in the shallows as he sputtered and coughed. Tony rolled onto his side and opened his eyes.

What the actual hell? Is this even the real thing or…

He was pretty sure that he was looking at a bland, knockoff version of hell. The landscape was made of shallow waters but kept the warm color scheme that he had imagined being introduced to upon his death. His vision of orange was tainted to a slowly focusing blur of black topped with bright red. That looks familiar…

"Tony? Oh, God, not you. It wasn't supposed to be you. Just me."

The figure knelt beside him and helped him upright with a surprising amount of strength. He sighed, rubbed his eyes, and greeted the blur with a knowing, "Hi Nat. Nice to know I'm not the only one in… wherever this is. It's not Malibu, but it'll do for now." He blinked, taking the familiar sight of the assassin in her black combat suit. She smiled sadly. "Tony."

"Natasha. Looks like we both remember each other's names. Where are we?"

"The soul stone," she replied softly. The pair stood, and walked together in comforting silence before Tony spoke again.

"How long were you waiting here with them?"

"It felt like weeks until you arrived. I was here alone, hearing their voices but I couldn't see anyone. I was convinced that I would be alone forever and that my death meant nothing until it all faded and you showed up."

"Is this all there is to this place?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Can you try and swim out?"

"You can't go below the surface at all. Believe me, I tried, and the only time I could was when I went to pull you out."

"So you're telling me that there's nothing to do besides annoy each other and wander endlessly on an unknown plane of existence? To be honest, I was expecting more demons with pitchforks and maybe a meet-and-greet with dead politicians."

Natasha's lips quirked up in a smile. "To hell with that idea. I thought you'd be headed somewhere with a halo over your head. A crooked one, but still a halo."

"Excuse me? I'd have that thing fixed and covered in glitter before you could say… hey, what's wrong? Seriously, is something bothering you, Red?" Tony said, before following her line of sight to a quaint scene of three cozy leather chairs in a circle around a fireplace, freshly materialized from out of nowhere.

"That… wasn't there before," he managed to say before resigning himself to stare at the gathering of furniture.

"Well no shit, Sherlock," she murmured, "What happened? Who did this?"

"That would be me," said a new voice coming from behind them. When the two whipped around, the voice chuckled from the chair nearest to the fireplace and the pair spun around again. "I didn't mean to spook you, but that was fun. Sit down, pull up a chair, we have a lot to catch up on."